Fisher F70 : Fisher F75 : Whites DFX : XP Goldmaxx : Online Reviews :

Fisher F70 by AH
My detector is a Fisher F70 which I am very pleased with.  For many years, I used a Fisher CZ5 Quicksilver which is now my spare machine. (The CZ5 is sensitive, but a bit on the heavy side, and it loves iron!)  The F70 however is more sensitive and will find very small items.  It is lighter, and has terrific iron discrimination without the risk of losing good targets.  It is silent in operation until it hits a target (although you will get rogue signals if you have the sensitivity tweaked too high).  It needs only 4 AA batteries (6volts!) which last about 40 hours.  Very user-friendly and easy to get the hang of.

My only complaint: keeping it waterproof.  The battery compartment is separate from the control box, so you need to buy 2 covers.  Why can't the manufacturers simply make both these parts completely watertight..?

Fisher F75 by BM
Superbly balanced, so that, even though it isn't the lightest of detectors, it feels as though it is when in use.  You can happily swing this detector all day long and not even realise it.  The arm rest is adjustable for all arm sizes - no need for a strap.

The large display is easy to see and adjustments to settings are made with just one push button and one rotary knob.  The only other controls being the trigger switch for ground balancing and pinpointing, plus the main on/off and volume knob located on the side of the battery box.  Runs on 4 x AA batteries - with a superb 30 hours plus from each set of batteries.

Has 4 process modes - Default, Bottle Cap, Jewellery and Ploughed Field.  I prefer the Jewellery process setting.  It makes the F75 more noisy to use, particularly in iron infested areas, but it’s worth it for the increased sensitivity to smaller targets.
The F75 also offers a permanently backlit display, which can be useful for people going out detecting on evenings and will give you an extra half hour or so at the end of a search day without needing to keep a torch trained on the display.

The coil is a 'D' type and is excellent, but can be difficult to use in stiff stubble.  A smaller 6" coil is available which apparently is even better at sniffing out small coins other machines miss (according to a recent magazine review) but harder still to use in firm stubble.

It can be noisy, especially over iron infested sites - but this is where it excels, since it will find the targets that others have missed due to masking of iron trash.  The All Metal mode is its most powerful setting which I personally use most.  You hear a lot of signal noises but soon get use to filtering the poor signals out, taking advantage of its powerful ability to 'average out' each sound and give a single, very accurate reading which the Discrimination mode simply doesn’t do.

Summary
The Fisher F75 is a well balanced, easy to use detector.  It can be noisy, especially over iron infested sites - but this is where it excels, since it will find the targets that others have missed due to masking of iron trash.

Pros:
light and well balanced detector - very sensitive with extremely fast recovery speed - decent depth - runs on only 4 x AA batteries - easy to set up - good discrimination and good choice of tone id modes - easy to read, informative meter - useful ground mineral information. - has a 'secret' setting allegedly allowing 20% more searching depth (proven on 'air tests' only so far but not ‘in the field’ )

Cons:
a decent coil but it suffers in hard stubble - water proofing - a major drawback in winter in the UK.  This machine was definitely designed in the sunshine states of the US.  Its difficult to keep heavy rain out, so you'll need extra protection (polythene or cling film) over and above the supplied rain covers.

Whites DFX by JE
The DFX is a good machine when you get used to the numerous settings available. Although the technology is now a bit dated and it has not the depth some newer machines are reputed to have, it is still fairly sensitive to small targets. The DFX has five f actory preset programmes and four custom slots for the user to put in their own.

Pros
Largest selection of coils available than any other machine on the market. Vast amount of adjustable settings to suit any detecting conditions. Repair base in Inverness with good fast repair service. Build quality second to none.

Cons
Prone to being affected by electromagnetic interference, power lines, electric fences, electric railways and other metal detectors. Quite complicated, not a machine for a new comer to the hobby. (needs guidance from experienced user to set up efficiently) A bit on the heavy side.

Whites DFX by SL
In the past I have used machines made by C-Scope, Minelab and Tesoro.  At present my prefered machine for farmland and pasture is the Whites DFX.  I have been using this machine for around eight years.

After using a Minelab Soveriegn (which is a very heavy machine) for years, the DFX seemed to be extremely light in weight and very well balanced when using the standard 9" coil.  The meter has large, easily read characters and also incorporates a very useful and easy to understand graphic display which does help to identify different metals, coins etc.

For people who do not like using a meter, there is the ability to identify targets by sound only.  This involves a huge range of tones from deep up to high and the user can very quickly learn from experience the different sounds made by different coins etc.  The DFX comes with nine factory set programmes but it is possible to change these programmes to suit personal tastes and different soil conditions.  Four of the programmes can be totally transformed, stored and renamed in the computers memory. Many programmes are available to download of the internet but the "Land 2" programme, which most of our club members use, is a great general purpose setting.  

This machine is robustly made and puts up with the harsh realities of real detecting in all weathers.  I rarely use this machine on the beach, although it does work perfectly well there - just a personal thing, nothing wrong with the DFX's ability on the sand.

Problems I have encountered (though few in number) with this machine are:
1. The obvious non waterproof control box and meter - when will manufacturers learn.
2. Due to its high sensitivity, this machine can suffer from electrical interference from railways, electricity pylons and Minelab metal detectors, though changing to an other programme and banning all Minelab machines :-) from club outings can rectify these problems.

To sum up I am happy with this machine and so are a lot of other people.  Although this detector has been superceeded by supposedly better technology and more bells and whistles by other manufacturers, I would still rate it in the top six machines available today.

XP Goldmaxx Power by JL
I am currently using an XP Goldmaxx Power.  I bought it 3 years ago to replace my worn out DFX.  Previous to that I had owned several C Scopes.  All were excellent machines in their own way.  The C Scopes were basically switch on and go – ideal for beginners.  The DFX could be fine-tuned to get the best out of it under any ground conditions.  Each detector was only replaced when it was about to fall to bits – no fault of the machines, it’s just that I tend to work them hard.  

By the time the DFX was due for replacement I had already decided its successor was going to be the XP.  They had been out for several years and had gained a good reputation for wheedling out the small hammered coins.  It was lighter than my previous machines (as I grow older I find my shoulders and arms are aching more after each detecting session).  And it did not have a screen – I found that as I became more experienced with my other machines I was hardly looking at the screen at all to identify the signals.  The tone of the audio signal was a good enough indicator. The Goldmaxx Power was also about half the price of the other machine I was considering at the time, the Explorer SE.

In use it took about 6 months for me to feel that I was getting the best out of my new machine.  A beginner would probably get the hang of it a bit sooner {though I would never advise a newcomer to the hobby to spend £600 or £700 on their first detector).  An experienced detectorist can get so accustomed to the audio signals from his machine that it can take some time to adjust to the different tones from another machine.

The Goldmaxx Power might not suit everyone.  If you only go out with it once month then I doubt if you will ever learn how to get the best out of it.  It is prone to picking up tiny pieces of lead, coke gives a good signal, but it just loves the little silver discs!  I think I have picked up more hammered in the 3 years with this machine than in my previous 10 years detecting!

I’ve treated myself to 2 new coils for the XP, an 11inch which I think is more sensitive than the standard coil and an 18 inch which is amazingly easy to pinpoint with.  The big coil is impractical on hard stubble but on short pasture or ‘ploughed and rolled’ I can cover a large area fairly quickly to help identify hotspots which warrant a more thorough search with a smaller coil.

I have been so impressed with the Goldmaxx Power that when my wife took up the hobby we chose another machine from the XP range for her first machine.  She soon got the hang of her ADX250 and it didn’t take her long to pick up her first hammered!